


Animated Life

by Kaiciend



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, play attraction designer! ryan, single parent! ryan, voice actor! shane
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-06-28 23:57:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 14,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15717708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaiciend/pseuds/Kaiciend
Summary: Ryan works hard designing attractions for the general public. His designs range from theme parks to haunted houses. But no matter how busy he gets, he will always find someway to have fun with his ten year old daughter.One day, she suggests to go to a convention for the cartoon Hot Dog Saga, whatever that is. Ryan has no clue what its about, but all that matters is her happiness.But what about his own happiness?





	1. Episode One

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys!
> 
> I was rewatching Shane sing Relish Life, and this idea popped up in my mind.  
> Enjoy~
> 
> If you wanna read more of my stuff, I have an ongoing fic titled Haunt My Heart. It's about Ryan, who is a paranormal investigator and writer. One day, he sees a demon near an abandoned house. Ofc, it's a shyan fic. 
> 
> Feel free to read Haunt My Haunt while you wait for updates to this fic.

_“Tune in next week for the return of the venerable Doctor Goondis in an...”_

Ryan tuned the rest out and returned to work. Close by, he could hear his daughter oh-ing at the ending of the episode.

His hands tapped away at his keyboard. His team needed a rough draft outlining what their next project was going to be.

“Hey, dad?” a soft voice sounded right next to him.

He paused his work and turn his attention to his daughter.

“Yeah, wassup, Ama?” he asked.

“Can we go to a convention?” she asked hesitantly.

“Convention?”

“Hot Daga convention!” she said excitedly. “LA Convention Center! Please can we go?”

“Why? You don’t like being around strangers though.”

“But I wanna meet the people behind the show,” Ama huffed.

Ryan sighed and rubbed his temples. He knew that saying no would upset Ama, and he didn’t want that to happen. Plus, it was rare for them to go out together for another reason other than dropping Ama at the daycare center before he headed to work.

He ruffled Ama’s hair playfully.

“Stop it!” she giggled, swatting Ryan’s hand away.

“Have you gotten taller, my little flower?” he mused.

“Yes!” Ama said proudly.

Ryan lifted her up onto his lap. She was getting too big to be sitting on him. Has it been nine years already? Time had passed in a few blinks. He could clearly remember when she was born. Such a small bundle of joy.

He hugged his daughter.

“Fine, we can go to the convention,” he said.

Ama blinked a few times. She was shocked. Her dad was usually too busy to step away from work or he just wanted to stay home and rest.

“Really?” she asked softly.

“Really,” Ryan chuckled. “We can go, but I need to know what day it’s happening.”

“The next Friday.”

He hummed and opened the calendar app on his laptop.

“Friday, friday, friday...” Ryan mumbled as he looked at his schedule.

“Are you gonna be busy?” Ama asked sadly.

Ryan pat her head softly and smiled. “No, Ama. I’m free, so we can go together.”

His daughter’s eyes widened. She jumped off her father’s lap and twirled around in joy.

“Yes!” she cheered.

“Calm down, calm down. I haven’t bought the tickets yet. Go shower while I finish this last part of my work, will you?”

“‘Kay.”

* * *

 

Ryan googled Hot Daga. _What kind of title is that?_

What popped up were some funky looking cartoon figures. A hot dog, corn, french fries...

_What in the world?_

Going through the wiki of the show, he found out that this Hot Dog show, or whatever, was not children friendly, but kids these days watch whatever, so Ryan shrugged it away. The show was created by a guy named Shane Madej. The guy also voiced a lot of the characters in the show while also bringing in guests.

Ryan continued his research and pulled up the official site for the cartoon. After it loaded, he was greeted with a welcome.

_Written by and starring Shane Madej and adored by every single viewer. If you don’t like it, then you can kiss my apple tatters._

“What the everloving fuck?” he asked himself in bewilderment.

He continued to browse around the site, only to stop when he heard the sounds of his daughter running to his room. Ama flung herself onto the queen-sized bed. She bounced a little as she settled down.

“Daaaad, did you buy the tickets?” she asked.

“Got it, got it,” Ryan replied, “Doing it right now.”

Ama snuggled besides her father and looked at the laptop while Ryan was clicking around.

“Ama, flower, can you grab my wallet on my drawer top?” he asked.

She slid off the mattress and grabbed the wallet and returned back to her father.

“Thank you.”

The two sat in silence while Ryan typed in all the information into the order.

“Okay, done,” he said.

Ryan barely had enough time to close his laptop lid before his daughter tackled him down and hugged him tightly.

“I love you, dad,” she said softly into the crook of Ryan’s neck.

“Love you too, Amaryllis,” he responded back.

They quickly brushed their teeth, and Ryan tucked Ama into her bed for the night.

“Night, little flower. Sleep well.”

He quietly closed the door and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.


	2. Episode Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early update so I can establish more of the story for you guys. It's pretty short though. I originally started this fic with the intention of it being a long oneshot, but I changed my mind.
> 
> Enjoy~

“Dad! Dad! Dad!” Ama called from the living room.

“What is it?” Ryan answered from the kitchen.

“Hot Daga is gonna come on soon!”

“In a minute. Let me plate the pasta first.”

He grabbed two bowls and forks and portioned the food as evenly as possible between the dishes. He took the food and walked into the living room, setting down the bowls on the coffee table.

Ama was situated about four feet away from the TV.

“Hey, not so close. You’re gonna ruin your eyes,” he said.

“Ugh,” Ama groaned.

She  got up and flopped onto the sofa.

“Better?” she hissed.

“Let’s eat,” Ryan said.

They grabbed their food as the show recapped the previous episode.

_“In the subterranean  plupple cave station of the planet Tomat-zero, Maizey, the holographic corn, stands in the center of an expansive coliseum. In the stands, the plupples have gathered in droves, though they’re not super aware of what’s going on, which is that Maizey is about to prove her innocence in trial by combat against a giant plupple. Jobblet, the elder plupple, addresses the crowd from his pulpit in the stands.”_

“What’s a plupple?” Ryan asked Ama.

“Shh, just watch the show. I’ll explain later. Talking is going to ruin the show,” Ama shushed her father.

Ryan huffed and went back to eating while wondering about what the heck the show was even about.

* * *

 

The plupple Moofus explodes and then-

_"Toon in next time for the season finale of the Hot Daga: Escape from the Planet of the Plupples."_

Ryan shook his head. “What did I even watch right now?”

“Oh my God! Dad, you’re so uncultured,” Ama laughed.

“Hey!” Ryan pouted, “You can’t blame you old man for being uncultured. I don’t know what you kids watch or do nowadays.”

Ama walks out of the living and headed upstairs.

A moment later, she comes back with a laptop in her hands. She sits back down on the sofa and turns on the laptop.

As soon as it’s booted up, she opened Chrome and pulled up Netflix.

“You use Netflix once in a while, so I don’t know how you haven’t seen the show before.”

“I have other things to watch,” Ryan replied. “Hey, you shouldn’t be watching such a thing. There’s some bad language in there.”

“Oh, you mean ‘fuck’?”

“Amaryllis!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ Little_Fishing_Boat:
> 
> Thank you for reading this fic!
> 
> Also, thank you to everyone that has read this fic, too!


	3. Episode Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for now. A new chapter will come out friday.

Five days have passed since he bought the tickets to the Hot Daga convention. Ryan could only get past season one of the show as he found it hard to keep up with the absurdness of the plot. Like, what the fuck is a crab joust?

How was he gonna survive the convention? It was today.

“Hurry up!” Ama wailed and tugged at Ryan’s jacket sleeve.

“Hold that excitement, flower. I still need to grab the car keys,” Ryan chuckled at her eagerness.

“What if we’re late?”

He locked the front door, and they headed to the front.

“We won’t. Promise,” said Ryan.

Ama stuck her pinky out. “Pinky promise?”

Ryan smiled fondly and shook her pinky with his. And so, they drove off, heading to the LA Convention Center.

* * *

 

“Wow...” Ama marveled at the sheer size of the building and the amount of people walking about the area.

“Hold my hand, so you don’t get separated from me,” said Ryan, grabbing his daughter’s hand.

They walked to the entrance of the convention. The security guard searched them and scanned the passes.

“Right this way to your left,” said the guard.

“Thank you,” Ama said cheerfully.

The guard couldn’t help but smile at the child’s brightness.

“Come on, Ama. Where do you wanna go first?” Ryan asked.

Ama was currently look at the map of the center. She hummed while reading through the list of things to do provided in the pamphlet.

“Can we buy something for Shane to sign?” she asked.

“Yeah, let’s head to the merch section.”

* * *

 

“Ooh, can I get Maizey?” Ama asked Ryan.

“Are you sure this is all you want?”

“Um... I’ll go pick out another one.”

Ryan pointed to the bench right across from the merch hall. “I’ll be waiting with your plupple there while you do you thing.”

“Roger,” Ama solluted and walked to the other stalls.

He sat down on the bench and fished out his phone. Sure, it was a day off with Ama, but it wouldn’t hurt to just respond to some emails. It was fine. Ama wasn’t watching.

Ryan opened the Gmail app and began scrolling through some emails. Most of them were from his colleagues about the interior design of the haunted house. He should probably respond to Brent before his team made a mistake.

“Do you mind if I sit here?”

Ryan almost dropped his phone onto the ground.

“Holy shit!” he swore as his hands flailed around to catch his phone.

“Oh, sorry ‘bout that. Didn’t mean to scare you,” said the same voice.

Ryan finally looked up to see who the person was. He was met with warm brown eyes. A little scruff on the face but overall tall and handsome.

“It- it’s fine,” Ryan managed to say.

The man nodded and sat down right next to him. He looked at the plush Ryan was holding and raised a brow.

“You watch Hot Dog Saga?” the man asked.

“Huh?” Ryan looked down at his left hand and noticed that he was indeed holding a Hot Daga plush, a soft plupple. “Oh, this? It’s for my daughter. She’s a huge fan of that show. Begged me to bring her here to go to the meet and greet.”

“So you’re not a fan?” the man asked with a hint of a smile on his lips.

Ryan laughed. “Nah, I don’t really have time to watch TV, but I did manage to get through the first season.”

“What do you think of it then?”

_Why’s this guy asking me so many questions about the show? Perhaps..._

“Don’t tell me you’re a hardcore fan of the show,” Ryan said suspiciously.

The man didn’t respond, only laughed at the accusation. “Not really.”

He leaned closer to Ryan. Ryan flinched back from the closeness. The man didn’t seem to really care.

“Your thoughts?” the man asked again.

Ryan sighed. “Well, I think it’s utterly weird that there’s a cartoon about food in space.”

“Why? Pickle Rick is a thing.”

“Pickle what?”

“Nevermind,” the man shook his head. “I think the plot is quite interesting.”

Ryan pocketed his phone in his jacket.

“WelL, _I_ think the story is all over the place. It should focus on a few characters at once, not ten in each episode. No one can keep up with the plot then.”

“Hmph,” huffed the man with his arms now crossed. “Well, _I_ think all the characters are unique, and they deserve equal screen time.”

“The minor characters don’t seem important to me,” Ryan responded. “The end of season one didn’t even update viewers on what’s going on with them. Shane Madej shouldn’t have added them to the story.”

“I’m sure Shane did the right thing,” argued the man.

“Well, he’s not so smart then.”

“Hey! He’s not-”

The sound of a girl calling for her dad interrupted their spat.

“Dad, dad! I found something I want!” said Ama.

A corn and a wonky looking egg was cradled in her arms. She deposited the change in her father’s hands.

“Hi, mister,” Ama greeted the man.

He smiled. “Hello there, little one. Whatchu got there?”

“This is Maizey and Doctor Goondis!” said Ama excitedly. “I love Hot Daga! Do you watch it, too?”

The man chuckled and nodded his head. “I do, in fact.”

Ama hopped in place with happiness. “See, dad? You should be like Mister. He watches Hot Daga like me.”

Ryan frowned and glared at the man. _How dare this man swoon his daughter._

“Ama, let’s get going or we’re gonna be late to the meet and greet,” he said, taking Ama’s plushes and putting them in her backpack.

She held her father’s hand, and they began to walk off. Ama was lost in wonder from the convention while Ryan glanced behind him. He saw the man look at them. Ryan quickly looked forward and erased everything in his mind regarding the man.

* * *

 

They were queuing in line. Almost a third way until it was their turn. Ama was bubbling with excitement. Ryan squeezed her hand a bit. He really loved her.

“What do you think Shane is like?” asked Ama.

Ryan shrugged. “Dunno. Never met him. Maybe a middle aged guy with a long hair and beard?”

Ama push his side playfully. “I wonder if he’s nice...”

“If he’s a big meanie, then I’ll take him down for you,” Ryan puffed his chest.

“You’re gonna be arrested, dad,” she giggled.

“Next ten step over here,” ordered the lady with a manager tag pinned on her cardigan.

“Come on, flower,” said Ryan.

“Wait until the person before you steps off the stage before walking up to Shane,” said the manager.

“You really?” Ryan asked his daughter.

She hugged the corn to her chest and nodded. They waited patiently for their turn.

“Step up,” said the manager.

“OMG, OMG, OMG,” chanted Ama.

They approached the table Shane Madej was sitting at.

“Hello. How are-”

“You again!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tidbit fact about how I write this fic:  
> I do so much research. I have the hot daga wiki open constantly. Ama's full name is Amaryllis. In the language of flowers, it means determination, love, and beauty. (Spoilers* I had to google how ceo email signatures look like.)
> 
> @ Little_Fishing_Boat:  
> I've read your message, and I would love to thank you again for your kind words. You are a godsend, and your words motivate me even more while I write this fic!
> 
> @ obsolete_schoolhousesmasher:  
> Thank you! Your comment made me laugh~ I try to write it as accurate as I could. I checked the transcript of the show to make sure the word fuck was said.
> 
> @ mycatsarecliquemembers:  
> Thank you, too! I'm glad you're enjoying this.


	4. Episode Four

“Hi again,” Ama said, unfazed by what just happened.

The man,  _ Shane _ , ignored Ryan’s shocked expression.

“Hey, little one,” Shane greeted. “Do you have anything for me to sign?”

Ama handed him Maizey the corn. “Can you sign the tag?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you,” said Ama.

Shane handed her back the plush. “Um, Ama, was it?”

She nodded.

“Who’s your favorite character, Ama?” asked Shane.

“Ooh, I like the plupples. So cute!” she answered. “But I love Maizey the most!”

She stroked the corn.

“I see,” said Shane.

Shane shuffled around the table for something. Ryan watched with a stern look. 

“Aha!” 

Shane pulled out a sheet of something. Ryan couldn’t make it out clearly. The man then grabbed the Sharpie beside him and signed it. 

“Here you go, Ama,” Shane said, handing the child a signed picture of Maizey.

“Wow...” Ama said softly in awe. “Thank you...”

Shane leaned over the table and ruffled her hair. Ama giggled in delight.

“See ya.” Shane waved a hand goodbye.

“Bye.”

* * *

 

“Dad, what’s wrong?” Ama asked her father.

“Nothing,” Ryan answered. “Let’s go eat.”

With that, they said nothing more. Hand in hand, they walked to back to their hotel to get Ryan’s car.

They got in and drove to Faith & Flower for lunch.

* * *

 

“Hello,” greeted a staff of the restaurant. “Table for two?”

“Yes,” Ryan answered.

“Come this way.”

The father and child were taken to a booth near the windows. Ama plopped on the seat and swung her legs back and forth. After they were seated, a staff handed them menus and walked away.

Ryan flipped open the menu and hummed while reading the items.

“Ama, what do you wanna eat?” he asked his daughter.

“Do they have chicken?” she asked.

He looked at the menu again, trying to find something with chicken his daughter would want to eat.

“What do you think about grilled jerk chicken sandwich?” Ryan suggested.

Ama squinted at the menu and looked for that item.

“But I don’t want tomatoes and onions,” she whined.

“How are you gonna grow if you don’t eat the good stuff?” teased Ryan. “It’s fine. We can order the sandwich without tomatoes and onions.”

“Can I get it fries? Ooh, and with bacon?”

“Woah, woah, woah. Hold it there, Amaryllis. Fries is enough,” Ryan said.

Ama hmphed and hide behind the menu. Ryan continued to look at the menu.

He wasn’t one to go overboard with food. He didn’t need to eat like it was dinner. He should settle with something light, but he was hungry. He didn’t have enough time to eat breakfast after making sure they packed everything for their trip.

“Hi, I’m Leah, and I’ll be your waitress. Are you guys ready to order?”

A waitress walked up to their table with a check pad in her right hand and a pen in the left.

“Yes, um, can we get a steak salad and a chicken sandwich without onions and tomatoes?” he told the waitress.

She nodded and wrote the order down.

“Anything to drink?” she asked without looking up from writing.

Ryan turned to his child. “What do you want to drink, Ama?”

“We have hot and iced tea, coffee, and water,” Leah spoke up. “There’s also alcohol if you want.”

She took a menu and pointed at the page with a list of alcohol.

Ryan shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I’ll go with a iced latte and she’ll-”

“Ice tea,” Ama jumped in.

“Ice tea it is,” said Ryan.

The waitress scribbled down the order, nodding. “Would that be all?”

“Yes.”

They thanked Leah.

“Okay, I’ll bring you your drinks in a moment. Please wait,” she said.

“Sure, no problem.

She walked away and ripped the order from the pad and headed into the kitchen.

“Are you having fun so far?” Ryan asked Ama.

The girl stopped playing with Ryan’s phone and looked up with a big smile. Ryan couldn’t help but smile too.

“Yep,” she answered.

Ama placed her backpack onto her lap and unzipped it. She stuck a hand inside it and pulled out her three stuffed toys.

“Are you going to keep them on your shelf or sleep with them?”

She hugged them tightly. Her mouth was open in mock shock. “I’m sleeping with them. ‘Specially Maizey.”

Ryan chuckled. Of course his daughter would. She had always clung important things.

“Can I see the plum?” he asked with his hand across the table.

Ama placed it into her father’s hand.

“Plupple, dad...” she corrected.

“Plupple, plum, same all,” he responded.

“No, it’s not, dad,” Ama said. “Jobblet is a plum. Plupples are plupples.”

“Jobblet?” Ryan said, confused at all the weird names the characters have on the show.

“OMG, it’s in season two!” 

Ryan scrunched his nose. “I only watched up to season one. Sorry.”   


“Wow...”

He pointed to the wonky egg Ama was rolling around in her palms. “I remember that egg. Doctor...?”

“Goondis,” Ama finished.

She made grabby hands at the plupple, signalling that she wanted it back. Ryan returned it and was then handed Doctor Goondis. He examined the plush. Its beady, sown black eyes stared (?) at him in a way.

“Why is he an egg?” he asked, looking up back at Ama.

She shrugged.

“Here’s Maizey,” she said.

Ryan swapped the egg for the corn. “Is she a main character? I don’t remember her as a main character in season one.”

“Uhuh!” Ama nodded. “She was introduced in the first, but she got a bigger role in season three.”

“Hmm.”

He noticed the tag.  _ Oh, yeah. Shane signed it earlier. _

“Oh, yeah, dad.”

“Hm?”

“Why was Shane with you before?” Ama asked.

“What do you-” Ryan started.

“Here’s your latte,” Leah announced, placing the drink in front of Ryan and Ama. “And here’s your tea.”

“Thank you,” said Ama.

Leah smiled and walked back into the kitchen.

Ryan turned back to his daughter. “What do you mean ‘Shane with m-’ Oh, yeah, that.”

He paused to take a ship of his latte.

“I was just sitting there waiting for you, and Shane just suddenly asked to sit next to me,” he said.

“Okay. What were ya talkin’’bout?” Ama asked with curious eyes.

“About the show,” he answered. “He’s a strange guy.”

His daughter laughed at her father’s response.

“You’re strange too, dad,” she teased.

“In a good way or bad?”

“Good.”

He smiled.

“Aaaand here’s your food.”

Leah had returned with a plate in each hand. She set them down in front of the respective people.

“Ama, you need to put away your plushies before they get dirty with food,” Ryan told his daughter.

Leah clasped her hands together. “Well, if you need anything else, tell me.”

“Okay, thank you,” said Ryan.

“Food!” Ama said cheerfully.

“Yep, food. Time to eat. The panel is going to start in about an hour and fifteen minutes,” he said, ready to dig into his salad.

Ama took a hesitant bit into her sandwich. Ryan laughed at his daughter’s expressions. It went from weary to thinking and finally shock.

Ryan raised a brow. “So?” 

She stuck a thumb up. 

“Goo!” said Ama with her mouth full.

She set the sandwich back down on her plate. 

“It’s good,” she said again, this time without food in her mouth.

“Then eat up.”

* * *

 

“Thank you and come again,” Leah bidded goodbye to the family.

“Have a nice day,” Ryan said.

Ama raised her hands in the air. “Ahhhh, I’m so full.”

“I can tell. You ate like a pig.”

Ryan fished for his pack of tissues in his backpack. He pulled one out and began wiping Ama’s mouth.

“Ew, no, dad.”

“Hold still, flower,” Ryan chidded. “You have chicken sandwich sauce all over your face.”

After Ama was cleaned, he threw away the tissue in the garbage bin. They walked to the valet person and requested for his car back.

They went back to the convention center with enough time to explore the place before the panel started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Faith and Flower is an actual restaurant near the LA Con Center. I do my research. I'm a bit extra with details.
> 
> @ Rae+Yen+Tan:  
> XD indeed I like writing fics with humor
> 
> @ Little_Fishing_Boat:  
> Thank you~ 
> 
> @ beefsteak:  
> Oh dear. You should be sleeping at such a time! I'm glad you decided to spend time reading my fic instead of resting.
> 
> @ stale_hopes :  
> Thank you! I'm glad you like it.
> 
> @ unsolved_witxhes:  
> I'm glad you gave this fic a try. It is an honor.
> 
> @ Anxiety_plus_Panic_equals_Me:  
> kjbvnkwev omg


	5. Episode Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long chapter.  
> I update once a week. It can be any random day of the week.  
> See y'all next week.

**Shane Madej** @shalexandej **・** 27m

There’s something special happening during today’s panel. Those

who are attending HotDogaCon, you’ll get a surprise ;) For everyone

else, you’ll have to wait till next Wednesday.

* * *

 

“What do you think the surprise is gonna be?” Ama asked.

“Huh?”

“Here.” She handed back his phone. “Read it.”

“Mmm... ‘Something special happening...” he read out loud.

He ended up shrugging. “Dunno.”

His phone pinged with a notification from the Gmail app. It was from his boss, and the email was subjected ‘Important- Project change’.

It said:

_Ryan,_

_I know it’s your day off, but I need to tell you about some_

_changes happening to your project. It’s not going to be a_

_huge changed, but the client requested that the haunted_

_house attraction you and your team are working on_

_should be featured around the Bellaire House._

_Please make sure the rest of your team hears about these_

_changes. I’ve sent them emails also._

**_C.C. Tinsely_ **

**_CEO of BuzzFeed Attraction Designs_ **

**LinkedIn | Facebook | Website**

 

“Hey, flower?” Ryan turned to Ama.

“Yeah?” she responded, looking up.

“I need to make a call. Can you go find out seats?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Thank you. It’s row thirteen and seat four and five,” he told Ama and quickly walked out of the hall and to a quieter place.

He scrolled through his contacts and hit call. His phone rang four times before the call was picked up.

 _“Yes?”_ said the person on the other end of the call.

“Hey, Brent” Ryan greeted. “There has been some changes to our project.”

 _“What changes?”_ asked Brent.

“I just read the email from the boss, and he said that the haunted attraction needs to be about the Bellaire House. I don’t know much about it, so can you do some research for me, so when I return tomorrow, I can immediately get started on revising the outline?”

 _“Yeah, sure,”_ his friend responded.

Ryan let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Brent.”

 _“Nah, it’s cool. It’s just work. No biggie,”_ said Brent.

“Thank you. Bye.”

_“Bye.”_

He shoved his phone into the back pocket of his jeans and walked back into the hall where Ama was waiting. He entered the hall and looked for his daughter.

All the way, near the front of the room. Ryan walked towards her direction.

“Sorry ‘bout that, flower,” he apologized as he sat down next to her.

“It’s fine,” she said. “You had to do something for work.”

Ryan was about to apologize once more, but the lights dimmed except the ones for the stage. Cheers and screams sounded all around the hall.

“It’s starting!’ Ama cheered along.

The big screen on the stage lit up.

_WELCOME TO THE HOT DOG SAGA PANEL_

Over the PA, a voice boomed.

 _“Where are we, Maizy?”_ asked a male voice.

 _“I believe Minestrone landed at the LA Convention Center,”_ answered a soft female voice.

 _“Hmm, I see,”_ a calm male voice chimed in _. “That explains all these people here.”_

The crowd whooped, and Ryan flinched at all the loud noise coming from the people. He wasn’t used to this kind of noise level.

_“Well, we can’t just stay inside the starship! We gotta greet them!” exclaimed a high squeaky male voice._

_“Plup!”_

The entire hall goes dark for a minute. Silence and anticipation.

The lights at the front turned back on and revealed five people on the stage. The screams got louder.

“Holy shit,” Ryan swore.

It was fine because his voice was lost in the screams. He could barely hear himself think. He turned to his right and saw his daughter screaming with the crowd. He looked back at the stage and saw the four out of five were settled in their seats. One was at the podium standing.

“Hello, guys and gals!” greeted the moderator. “How’s your day?”

“Good!” responded the entire hall in sync.

“Good to hear, good to hear. I’m fine as well,” he said.

“Get started already!” said someone from the stage.

Ryan looked for the owner of the voice. He spotted Shane on stage.

“Shane’s right, so let’s get this going. I’m Rick Goldsworth. I’ll be moderator this panel, but I don’t know if I can do that with Mister Madej here.”

Rick pointed at the direction of Shane. The guy had a smug smile on his face. There were laughs from the people that were aware of Shane’s antics.

“Ahem, fellas, introduce yourselves. Mmm... Starting from Mark,” Rick said.

The camera panned to the table of guests. It stopped at a man with short black hair.

Mark waved to the crowd. “Hey, I’m Mark Celestino. I voice Mike Soup, Garce, and Jobblet.”

The next person was a women with curly hair. She pulled the mic closer and spoke into it.

“Hello. I’m Sara Rubin. I voice few characters like: Minestrone-”

Cheers erupted, cutting Sara off.

“Pam.”

The cheers got louders.

“Some plupples.”

Whoops.

“And Maizey,” she finally finished.

The people in the hall all cheered even louder. Even Ama stood up and screamed with everyone while jumping up and down. She coincidentally was holding her Maizey plush and waved it in the air.

The camera moved on to the next person in line. It was another guy. He had short brown hair and a plaid shirt on.

“I’m TJ Marchbank. I’m the key animator of the show,” he introduced himself.

The crowd cheered. Fans really loved how the editing and characters have changed and evolved over the years.

“And finally...” Rick said.

The camera landed on Shane. He was wearing a cap that said ‘Apple Tatters’.

The hall went wild with cheers and screams. Shane waved and smiled, waiting for the noise to quiet down before he could speak.

When people calmed down, Shane blew a kiss and winked, thus causing the fans to vocalized their adoration for him again.

Finally, after maybe half a minute of endling cheering, things stopped.

“Howdy,” greeted Shane. “I’m Shane Madej. The ma-”

“I love you!” shouted a guy from audience.

“Love you too, man,” Shane laughed. “I’m the creator of the great show Hot Dog Saga”

“Yeah!” cheered Ama.

Ryan just looked at his daughter with wide eyes.

On stage, Shane solluted.

“I do most of the voices on the show including Gene and Doctor Goondis.”

Everyone clapped.

“Okay, now on to the questions. We’ll be accepting questions from you guys near the end of the panel,” said Rick.

“First question: Who are your favorite characters?” he asked the panelists. “Sara?”

She cleared her mouth and spoke. “Oh gosh, where do I start? I love them all. Um, I really like the plupples. They’re so cute!”

TJ and Rick nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, they are,” said TJ. “I needa get one of those plupple plushies.”

“I like them too,” said Rick. “They’re not weird like Gene or the hot dogs.”

“Hey!” Shane said with an offended tone.

“Mike, what’s yours?” Rick asked.

“Doctor Goondis as an egg,” he answered immediately.

Sara laughed. “It’s just an egg.”

“Hold on, hold on,” Shane said, turning to face Mike at the end of the table with his elbow propping up his head. “I wanna hear why you like that version of Doctor Goondis. Don’t you like the chicken version?”

“It’s way funnier as an egg, dude,” responded Mike.

“Wow, I’m offended,” Shane pouted.

“Enough, boys,” Rick interrupted while laughing. “Shane?”

“Doctor Goondis, chicken form,” he said seriously with a straight face.

“Ahahaha!” everyone laughed at his answered.

“God, make out with the chicken then,” Sara teased.

“TJ, finally,”

“I’d say Maizey,” he answered.

“Yeah?” said Rick.

“Yeah, she super awesome. She out for murder after her wife died, and she’s proper rep for the LGBT community,” said TJ.

“Oh, yeah. I remember that I got some tweets asking about including a character like that into the show,” commented Shane.

“Speaking of fans...” Rick said. “What’s some of your experiences with the fans?”

“I had a lot of fans that tweet to me saying how they loved how I voiced Maizey and how much of a inspiration I am to fans,” Sara popped in.

“That’s great!” said Mike.

Shane stood up from his seat and raised a hand over his eyes to see beyond the brightness of the lights that were pointing at the stage.

“How many of y’all are fans of Maizey?” he shouted.

Cheers erupted. Plushies of the corn was held up and waved. Ama was a part of the crowd of people. She whooped.

Sara smiled wide, feeling loved and appreciated.

 _The fanbase is sure nice and loving._ Ryan thought to himself.

“TJ!” Rick said suddenly.

That startled a “Yes!?” out of the man. He had jumped a bit in his seat. Besides him, Shane was having a field day, laughing hard that his friend’s reaction.

Shane opened the bottle of water provided by the venue and tried taking a sip from it, but because he was still having the case of the giggles, he choked on the liquid and started coughing. The tables turned, and it was TJ that was laughing. The people were laughing along since the camera was able to capture the moment of mishaps.

“You okay there, Shane?” Sara said in between bouts of laughter.

“Yes-” coughing “I’m fine,” he managed to get out.

“This panel is gonna end with Shane dying because he keeps choking on waters,” mused Mike.

The fans laughed at his words. It was funny enough that it made Ryan chuckle.

“Okay, okay. TJ continue,” Rick gestured to him.

“Well, I like it went I get fanart from people. Fans are so talented with their creations, like wow,” responded TJ.

The man made the motion of his head exploding.

“So everyone should send you the stuff they made?” Rick asked TJ.

“Yeah,” said TJ. “My Twitter is @theteegeman.”

Ryan turn his attention elsewhere and glanced at his daughter to see how she was doing. She was completely focused on the panelists while hugged Maizey close to her chest. Ama was happy and enjoying their day together, and that was enough for him to tell himself that he had made the right choice in taking the day off to bring her here. It didn’t matter that this wasn’t his sort of thing; it mattered that this was Ama’s sort of thing. He turned his eyes back to the stage.

“-d he started talking ‘bout how my characters were strange or something. Like, dude, it’s a fucking, pardon my French, cartoon with crab jousts and a possessed racoon. What did you think?” Ryan heard as he tuned back into the panel.

 _Wait... Is he talking about me?_ Ryan asked himself.

“Whatever, but I wonder if he’s here right now,” Shane said.

 _Of course I’m here!_ Ryan mentally screamed.

“Oh, but his daughter was adorable,” Shane said.

“Ooh, tell me about her,” Rick chimed in.

“I met the guy again during a meet and greet. He didn’t know who I was before, but when he came up to my table, he found out and was hella shocked. Oh, but his daughter said she loved Maizey and asked me to sign the tag of the plushie. T’was cute.”

“I swear, your fan interactions are always weird,” said Mike.

“Next. Mike.”

“I’ve got some people coming up to me telling me that my Mike voice is sexy. When I lower my voice, people nut or something,” Mike told the hall.

The hall laughed.

“Yeah, right!?” exclaimed Mike. “Isn’t weird?”

“Sure is,” Shane spoke up.

Sara was just sat back and shaking her head in amusement.

* * *

 

It was nearing the end of the panel. Hence why Rick said that they were going start taking questions after the chosen people from a raffle were queued up in two lines. Ama was a bit nervous because she was separated from her father as she lucky enough to be picked to be in line to ask the panelist something. She clutched her corn tightly.

“Hmmm, let’s go with the right line. You!” Rick said and pointed to the guy behind the mic.

“Um, hi,” he greeted shyly.

“Aw, don’t be shy. We don’t bite,” said Sara sweetly.

“Shane might,” muttered Rick.

“Bwahaha!” TJ bursted out in laughter.

The crowd laughed along.

“What was something that was cut from the show?” the guy asked.

“Oh”

“Nope,” Shane said, popping the ‘p’. “Thank to this show being on Netflix, we don’t have to worry about censorship or time constraints. What you see is everything I’ve written, so no, nothing has been cut from the show. Thank you for your question.”

“The left,” Rick said.

“Hi, my name is Lily,” the girl introduced herself. “I would like to know what the process is like creating Hotdoga. What were some difficulties you guys encountered?”

The four panelists looked at each other and spoke away from the mic. Their voices were soft and almost impossible to make out what they were saying.

“Well, for me,” Sara started, “I used to have difficulty making my voice distinguishable when voicing different characters. Like, I had trouble making sure Maizey didn’t sound like Minestrone or Pam. Yeah, that was probably the hardest part.”

“I hate it when Shane like to add new characters to the show because I need to start from scratch to draw up a key concept of the character and test out different designs. Shane can be a pain in my ass sometimes, but I love him,” said TJ.

“Aw,” cooed Shane. “Love ya too.”

TJ threw his arms around him.

“Shane?” called Mike.

“Oh, okay. Ummm,” Shane began. “I guess juggling everything all at once. It would’ve been way easier for me to just write and not voice act, but I like being in control of everything I make. I’m guilty of being a workaholic. And now that I have something huge coming up that I’m working on for you guys, I’ve been super busy, so sorry if I AFK for a bit. Just know that I’m busy.”

“Me too,” Mike joined in. “I sometimes get lost in reading the scripts Shane sends me. The story can get really immersive sometimes.”

“Thank you, Lily,” Rick said. “The right again.”

“First off, I just want to say I love this show so much. It’s lighthearted and funny. Whenever I have a bad day, I always binge watch the show. So my question is, what’s something you people watch when you’re feeling down?” asked a teenage girl.

“Hmmm... Good question,” Mike said. “Thank you for supporting this show. I like watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”

“Ohhh, nice,” commented Sara. “It’s my good to too.”

“I like watching ghost hunting shows,” said Shane. “I only watch them because it’s funny when those guys just walk around at this creepy place expecting to find some sort of proof that ghosts exist.”

“I watch Great British Bake Off,” said TJ. “Although it makes me hungry.”

“I might look them up myself,” said Rick. “Okay, now to the left.”

“Oh, hi little one,” cooed Sara. “What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Ama.” she said quietly.

She stroke her Maizey plush.

“Hi, Shane,” said Ama softly.

“Eyyy! Ama!” Shane stood up from his seat. “You’re here! Where’s your dad?”

The child only pointed at the general direction of where Ryan was sitting.

Shane walked to the front of the stage and hopped off. He began walking towards Ama. When he reacher her, he gave him a hug.

Ryan was shocked that Shane would do such a thing. He looked around and saw a lot of the girls in the crowd were either cooing or glaring at Ama. Ryan huffed in annoying.

_Those fans better not do anything to his girl._

Shane bent down to Ama’s ear. He was probably a beanstalk in his previous life.

He said something in her, and she nodded.

“Um, what do you want to add to the show?” Ama asked the panelists. “What if you asked Shane to write in your favorite food into the show?”

Shane was still standing by her. He had this fond look on his face.

“Am I allowed to tell them this, Shane?” asked TJ.

Said man nodded.

“I have gotten a greenlight for some hamburgers,” he announced.

The hall cheered.

“New characters are coming to the Hotdoga! You heard it here first!” said Rick.

Sara cleared her throat and spoke. “I want pasta on the show. Shane make that happen, yo”

Shane laughed. “On it, Sara.”

The fans whooped at the spoilers they were getting.

“I want soda on the show,” said Mike.

“Hold up, wait. That’s not a food, Mike,” Sara halted her friend.

“That’s up to Shane to decide, man.” Mike shrugged his shoulders.

Everyone looked at Shane. The camera moved to capture him on screen. He only shrugged. People laughed at his response.

“I don’t have to really give a serious answer because I can write whatever I want on this show,” he said.

_Wow, this guy is so chaotic..._

“Thank you, Ama, for your question,” said Mike.

Shane grabbed her hand and led her back to her seat. When he reached Ryan, he winked at him.

_!!!???_

* * *

 

“Thank you for all you guys’ questions,” thanked Rick.

The panelists echoed thanks too.

“We are going to now announce something special for you guys today,” he continued. “Shane, can you do the honors of telling everyone? In three, two, one-”

“Season Five of the Hotdoga is coming in a month!” Shane said loud into the mic.

The entire room was filled with happy screams and vigorous clapping.

“And I’m happy to say that I’m going to be working with BuzzFeed Attraction Designs in a team that’s currently planning to build a haunted house!,” he continued over the noise.

_The fuck!?_

“No way...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ Night_and_the_sky:  
> Thank you for reading this fic
> 
> @ Nova880:  
> Thank you so much for your kind words
> 
> @ Rybergara:  
> I'm more of an oowoo kind of guy
> 
> @ lowercasemad :  
> I'm glad you enjoyed reading my work


	6. Episode Six

His boss said nothing about working with Shane Madej.

Ryan paced around the hotel room, thinking hard about what he just found out.

But C.C. didn’t mention his name, so Ryan didn’t know that his new client was Shane.

He ran his fingers through his hair.

_ UGH! _

Ama turned to her father. “You work for BuzzFeed, dad!”

He nodded.

His daughter immediately lit up with excitement. “Will you see Shane?”

“Unfortunately,” Ryan sighed.

* * *

 

“Welcome all,” greeted C.C. “Let’s get this meeting started.”

The CEO gestured to Shane who was sitting right across Ryan. This time in a suit and all. Shane winked at him.

“Hi, I’m Shane Madej. Thank you for having me. I’m here today to discuss the planning of the haunted house attraction,” Shane said.

“We’re happy to have you here,” replied the CEO.

Everyone nodded but Ryan. He stayed quiet and observed Shane’s every action.

C.C. then gesture to Ryan. “This is Ryan Bergara. He’s the head of the team of the Bellaire house.”

“So we’re going to talk about the rooms’ layout and everything that's going to be in each of them,” said Pallia, the manager of BuzzFeed.

Shane nodded and hummed, thinking. He then reached down and pulled out a file folder of papers. He picked a few small stacks of paper out and passed them around the table for everyone. When the pile reached Ryan, he was immediately greeted with  _ Bellaire House _ in big bold letters.

“So what I’ve handed out is all the research I did on the Bellaire House. I hope to provide some direction to Ryan’s team during the installation process. I can help with the historical aspect of the house.”

People at the table nodded. Ryan just flipped through a few pages. There were a few pictures here and there; he was glad this wasn’t just packed with words.

“Let’s start with the main room,” said Brent. “Mr. Madej, what would you suggest we put in the living room?”

“There should be a dining room or living room with a table set up for a seance,” Shane said. “Candles and all.”

“Hold on,” Ryan interjected. “So you want people to hold a seance?”

Shane’s eyes lit up,“Oh, thank you for reminding me. We need instructions.” He snapped his fingers. “I could be there and head the seance events.”

Eric, one of Ryan’s team members, hummed and nodded. “That actually sounds interesting...”

“I agree,” said another team member.

Ryan looked at his boss for his reaction.

“Let’s go with that,” said C.C.

“You’re completely ignored my words!” Ryan said loudly. “What if people do actually contact the dead? What if ghosts end up haunting us!?”   
“Relax, Ryan,” Shane calmly said as he waved a dismissing hand. “Ghosts aren’t real.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Ryan growled. “I won’t have some random guy come in and sit his ass down and let him order my team around when he has no prior experience in set designing!”

“Ryan!” C.C. called out in shock. “That’s no way to talk to our guest.”

“Well he was being rude first!” Ryan argued.

“Hey, guys?” Shane said meekly. “How ‘bout w-”

“Whatever. Bye.”

Ryan got up from his chair and stalked towards the glass doors.

With his exit, it left Shane wondering what he had done wrong to get such a reaction from Ryan.

* * *

 

“I’m home,” Ryan called out to his daughter.

Feet paddling around the hardwood floor could be heard.

“You’re early,” Ama said.

“Hey, my flower. I wanted to come home early and rest me mind,” he said. “Anyways, enough about me. How about you? How’s your day?”

“I finished all my homework,” she answered.

“Ooh, that’s nice. We can have movie night then.”

“Ms. Pan helped me on my reading assignment,” Ama said gleefully.

“Is that so?”

“Oh, hey, Ryan,” a voice sounded near the two.

Ryan turned around and was greeted with a lovely women.

“Hey to you too, Helen,” he said with a smile.

“You’re early,” Helen said as she checked the time on her watch. “It’s not even five...”

“Yeah, I got off early and wanted to spend some time with Ama.”

“Daaaad,” Ama called out to her father and tugged on his sleeves. “You said movie night.”

“Yes, yes, Ama.”

“See you next week,” Helen called out to the girl as the family walked out the double doors.

“Bye bye!” shouted Ama.

* * *

 

Ryan tossed the remote to Ama and flopped onto the small sofa.

“Your turn to pick, little flower,” he said.

“You haven’t even made the popcorn yet! That’s a sin, dad!” Ama jokingly cried.

“Oh, no!” Ryan played along. “I think I hear the sirens!”

Suddenly, Ama jumped onto Ryan. “You’re under arrest!”

“What for, madam?”

Ama shifted her weight and tried to pin her father down. “For not microwaving popcorn before the movie starts!”

“I’ve committed no crime, police officer,” Ryan said in between bouts of laughters. “The movie hasn’t been picked yet, so I’ve done nothing wrong!”

Ama stilled for a moment and was thinking. “Hmm... You’re free to go Mister Bergara.”

Ryan got up into a sitting position and hugged Ama. She hugged him back with equal tightness.

“You still need to pick a movie, Officer Bergara,” Ryan mumbled into the crook of his daughter’s neck.

“Mhm.”

“Ama...”

“I wanna watch Kubo...”

“Roger that.”

“Popcorn?”

“Popcorn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ softwheeze:  
> thank you~
> 
> @ ssconess:  
> thank you for your kind words! i try my best to write like it's irl. like the way ryan and ama get interrupted during their lunch. it happens to people too. so yeah.


	7. Episode Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sept 9, 2018- im going to see fall out boy tonight! im so happy, so im gonna update early. chapter 8 will come next week too

“Ama! You ready to go?” Ryan shouted from the front door.

“Yeah!” Ama shouted back from her room. “Putting on my socks!”

She jogged to where her father was and plopped down on the floor to put on her shoes.

“Love your choice of socks today,” Ryan complimented.

“Hee hee,” she responded and stuck out her left foot into the air. “Dinosaur socks from Forever 21.”

Ryan only smiled and bent down to ruffle the girl’s hair. “C’mon, we need to get going.”

* * *

“I would like to apologize for my unacceptable behavior during the project meeting last Friday,” Ryan said to C.C.

His boss only stared at Ryan and crossed his arms.

“I accept your apology but your behavior however...”

“I’m very sorry for that.”

C.C. nodded. “I need to know why you were like that. Is there something going on between you and Mr. Madej? You need to kee-”

“No! No, no, no, no!” Ryan interrupted his boss and frantically waved his hands. “There’s nothing going on! Madej? I barely know him!”

“Hahaha,” laughed his boss. “If you say so.”

“I did just say so...” muttered Ryan.

“Well, if there’s nothing else, then you are excused, Ryan,” said C.C.

“Thank you, C.C.”

* * *

 

“Wha happeh” asked Brent with his mouth full of bread and pastrami.

“Please don’t talk to me with your mouth full of chewed up mush,” said Ryan.

Brent finished chewing and swallowed. “What happened? What did the boss say to you? Did you get fired?”

“The fuck? No.” Ryan glared at his friend.

“Dude, you were pretty mad that day though,” said Brent.

“It was nothing. I was just having a bad day.”

“Why were you so against Shane’s ideas?” Brent asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I know Shane. His ideas are always good,” his friend responded.

Ryan blinked a couple of times, slowly processing Brent’s words.

“Waaait,” he said slowly, “You know Madej?”

Brent only nodded and hummed as he was currently preoccupied with his Reuben sandwich that Lunetta freshly made.

“Why didn’t you tell me!?” Ryan exclaimed. “I could’ve avoided that meeting and not see his face!”

“What’s wrong with Shane? He’s a close friend of mine. I was the one to ask him to come to BuzzFeed and help with our project.”

Ryan’s mouth was agape in shock. “I- I don’t know if I should make you pay the bill or throw my salad at your face as punishment.”

“Aw, Ryan, man. You love me too much to do that,” Brent said, smiling fondly.

He pouted and crossed his arms, leaning back into his seat. Ryan felt like a child about to throw a fit over something small, but it was all Brent’s fault for that incident. Had he not told Shane about the Bellaire House project and invited him to work with the team, none of that would’ve happened.

“Whatever.”

* * *

 

“Y’know, Shane is a really cool guy once you get to know him,” Brent suddenly brought up on walk back to work from lunch.

“Eh...”

“I get that he can be a bit extra and chaotic, but he’s really chill.”

“I beg differ,” said Ryan.

“I mean, what he did during the con was wild though,” Brent said.

“Yeah, like peop- You were there?”

“Mhm. Backstage.”

“You know his works?” asked Ryan.

“Yeah, I was a fan from the very start when he texted me about the general story line of the show. It was amazing,” said Brent.

“I feel so betrayed.” Ryan glared at Brent playfully.

“Oh, hush. Don’t be so dramatic. You’ll warm up to him soon enough.”

“Bet.”

“I get to dress you up for Halloween if I win.”

“I get to dress  _ you _ up for Halloween if I win.”

“Deal?”

“Shake on it.”

_ Easy win. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ Nova880:  
> thank you oowoo
> 
> @ Anxious_Bisexual_Gal:  
> sameeeeeee i love ama too!
> 
> @ Rybergara:  
> lol honestly though! i hate that i cant give more kudos to fics! thank you for your support~
> 
> @ Kara_lovelymusic ;  
> it's a slowburn fic babey!!! i intend to make them be forced to work together and kinda find they way to each other :)


	8. Episode Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fall out boy was amazing! i went to their mania experience pop up shop the next day and spent way too much money on merch orz

“Huh?”

Ryan spotted a familiar figure sitting in the lounge area of the company. He gathered his courage to approach him.

“Is this seat taken?” Ryan asked.

“Nah,” the person responded without looking up to see who it was.

“Thank you,” said Ryan.

He sat down on the huge bean bag chair right next to the person.

“It’s cool, Ryan.”

“Mhm- wait. You knew it was me?” Ryan was slightly startled at the mention of his name. Shane didn’t even bother to look up to see who it was 

“How could one forget such a voice,” he said. “Just like a siren.”

Ryan didn’t know if he should take it as a compliment or an insult. Either way, he shoved those thoughts to the far back of his mind. They said nothing more, sitting in silence with the ambient noise of chatter and keyboard clicks sounding in the background. However, the silence was unbearable for Ryan. He had to make an effort to be friendly to Shane, but nothing would move forward if he said nothing. Actions don’t speak louder than words unless someone is watching you, and currently, Shane was just scrolling through his phone.

“So- So... how is your day so far?” Ryan managed to ask.

“Could be better if I wasn’t caught in the rain,” Shane responded.

“Oh... Um, well, that’s LA weather for you.” Ryan gave an awkward forced chuckle.

“Chicago is worse, so it’s chill.” Shane shrugged at the man’s words without giving Ryan anything else.

“You’re not from here?” asked Ryan. Now he was interested in this guy. Not in  _ that _ way. No thank you. “What is a guy like you doing all the way on the other side of the country?”

Finally. Shane locked his phone and looked up at Ryan.

_ Warm brown eyes... _

No No No No No!

Ryan shook his head to clear away whatever that was. Shane had this stare... Like he was slightly dumbfounded by Ryan’s questions. Like Ryan has done something stupid.

“What?” he asked with a huff.

Shane waved a hand in front of him in the way people would to gesture ‘duh’.

“What?” Ryan asked again. There was nothing wrong with his questions. They were normal things one would ask to someone that’s not a native of a place. What did this guy want?

“Have you moved before?” Shane asked.

What did that have to do with anything? 

“Yeah?”

“There you go,” said Shane. “That’s why I’m here.”

Ryan stared with wide eyes, shocked.

_ What’s with this guy, really!? I’m gonna punch him!  _ he thought to himself. 

The sticks and bones just got up and walked towards the meeting room.

“It’s Wednesday, my dudes,” he said without looking back. “Meeting’s gonna start in five minutes.”

Ryan sat there, still sunk down on the bean bag chair. Just looking at where Shane sat a few seconds before. He was left with his thoughts.

Ryan came to the conclusion that there was  _ no way _ in Hell that he would be able to get along with Shane Madej.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ Kara_lovelymusic:
> 
> im always changing the story every time i write a chapter. i dont have everything outlined, so it might not be a slowburn lol  
> who knows


	9. Episode Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise the chapters are short because i wanted to end it there. not because i cant write.  
> okay, maybe it's both. sometimes i can't think of a way to further the story, so i force myself to write a semi decent ending so i can move on to the next chapter in time for an update.  
> i thought that i would be able to write everything out before publishing this fic, but i opted to break it into chapters.  
> idk what im doing. life's a mess.

“I believe that we can make do without the seance,” Ryan said.

“Why’s that?” asked Shane. 

Ryan couldn’t read the guy’s face. Shane had his usual blank expression, and it make it hard for Ryan to gauge how the meeting was going. He didn’t want to blow a fuse like last week, but he wasn’t going to have some random dude butt into his project and demand things that he didn’t approve of. It was bad enough that his boss seemed to like Shane a lot. What was so good about Long Legs McGee anyways?

“I think that having someone stand off to the side and explain how seances work is enough,” reasoned Ryan. “I don’t think you would be comfortable doing the same thing over and over again for half a day for an entire month.”

Shane hummed while considering his coworker’s words. “You got a point.”

“Yeah.”

“Fine,” Shane finally agreed. “I will be there sometimes only to explain the seance.”

“No,” said Ryan sternly.

“Huh?”

“I want you to make the seance demonstrations a special thing that happens once every few hours,” demanded Ryan.

Everyone that was a part of the meeting sat back while they witnessed the two men negotiate things out. They were Ryan’s team members, and it wasn’t like they could argue with the head of it. C.C. didn’t say anything yet.

“I get to control the seances,” Shane demanded in return.

“I get to have a say in everything else.”

Eyes of the audience were amused, Their attention bouncing back and forth between the two bickering men.

“I get to dress in period clothes.”

“I get to have a final say in everything still.”

Shane produced a baby-sized toy hammer with jingling bells and all out of nowhere. He tapped it against the table like a judge would with a gavel.

“Very well, fair fellow,” said Shane.

“Same here,” responded Ryan.

“Welp,” Shane suddenly stood up and made his way to doors of the room. “Meeting finished.”

Ryan nodden and stood up and followed suit. Both men exited the meeting room, leaving everyone except Brent and C.C. shocked. Little did anyone know, the boss slid a ten dollar bill under the table into Brent’s waiting hand.

Said guy had a knowing glint in his eyes with a small smirk. He watched Ryan and Shane continue to bicker from a distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ softwheeze:
> 
> yeppppp gotta love some meme refs
> 
> @ Kara_lovelymusic:
> 
> aw that sucks. it was my third time seeing them.  
> shane loves teasing ryan. flustered ryan is gonna be fun to write later on when he falls for sticks mcgee
> 
> @ mynekoheart:
> 
> thank you for reading both fics!
> 
> @ Trashygaymeme:  
> it truly is! it's stunning! i was browsing through netflix and was looking for something good.  
> be careful what you ask for lol. nah, i really want to get back to my other bfu fics, but every time i write, i end up adding more to the story. ehhh oh well


	10. Episode Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer:
> 
> I don't in anyway claim to know anything regarding Shane's personal life. I've written him in a certain way, but it doesn't reflect how I believe him to be irl. This work is purely fiction.

“And then the venerable Doctor Goondis breaks out into song!”

Ama starting to sing some odd song about a chicken hatching. Ryan didn’t quite understand, but it was alright because his daughter was smiling and happy. That was all that mattered.

“I’m coming out of my shell.” sang Ama loudly.

Ryan smiled and nodded as Ama twirled around in his room.

“Come on, little flower,” he called to her, “Time to go to bed now.”

She stopped mid twirl and turned to face her father. Ama had a pout on her face.

“But daaaad,” she whined.

“Uh uh.” He pointed to the clock hanging above the TV. “It’s nine thirty. Way past your nine o’clock bedtime.”

Ama groaned and threw herself onto his bed and kicked her feet in the air.

“Let’s get you changed and into your pjs.”

She reluctantly scooted down and made her way to her room across. Ama made a beeline to her small walk in closet and pulled out her favorite onesie.

“Good choice,” said Ryan.

He helped her into her fluffy soft teddy bear onesie. Ama climbed into bed and allowed Ryan to tuck her in with a warm blanket. It was starting to get colder as the season changed into Fall. He kissed Ama on both cheeks and finally her forehead.

“I love you, dad,” she said softly with sleep beginning to slur her words.

“Love you too, Amaryllis,” Ryan returned.

He hugged her tightly before closing the lights and walking out. He closed the door quietly and headed into the bathroom for a shower.

* * *

 

Okay...

Maybe the Hot Dog Saga wasn’t as bad as he thought it’d turn out to be, but Ryan was a stubborn guy, and stubborn guys don’t admit that they’re wrong.

Upon hearing Gene the french fries break out into song, Ryan was just about done with everything. He closed the Netflix tab and opened a new one. Into the search bar he typed in Shane’s full name. He hit the return and the search results loaded. Ryan then scrolled around to find the Wikipedia page of the guy.

“Shane Alexander Madej...” Ryan read out loud. “Born in blah blah blah... Illinois... Hmm...”

The page was loaded with facts about Sticks McGee. Ryan tried to resist scrolling down the page and reading the section about Shane’s personal life. To avoid this, he went past that section and started reading from bottom up. He started reading about the last section which just so happened to be about the cursed Hot Daga. Ryan reluctantly read the paragraphs about the show.

 

_... a fictional universe created and written by Madej. As of September 2018, there are five seasons. It is released on Adult Swim in the United States and on Netflix internationally._

_The show was an inside joke between Madej and his college friend, but Madej started working on the pilot of Hot Dog Saga. In the beginning stages of development, the first season of the show was initially posted on YouTube in August 2015._

 

Ryan had enough of reading about the Hot Doga. He scrolled back up and landed on the section about Shane’s personal life.

Should he read it? It was quite tempting to dig into Shane’s life and know a bit more than whatever he knew about him. Maybe the way the lanky man was putting up a facade. What if Shane was the exact opposite of how he acted around watching people.

Fine.

Ryan gave in and started to read.

 

_Madej came out as bisexual in a vlog posted on YouTube in 2010. He has dated his Hot Dog Saga co-star and close friend Sara Rubin. They mutually split up in 2013 and have remained good friends since. Madej has remained single from then on._

 

Ryan blinked a few times, letting the information he just learned.

So Shane was...

* * *

 

“Dad?” Ama called out to Ryan.

“Yeah?” he answered from where he was sitting. He was just listening to the news while working on the haunted house plans. He felt the couch dip a little from his daughter’s weight.

“You know how Maizey has a wife?” she asked hesitantly.

Ryan shoved away the throw pillow he was hugging and turned to the side to fully face his daughter. He noticed that Ama had a familiar look on her face. One that was full of resolve, like she was sure of something. Whatever it was, Ryan would listen to her.

“Yeah? It’s a normal thing,” Ryan said. “Didn’t I tell you that there’s nothing wrong with loving people no matter who or what they are?”

“I know, Dad.”

Ryan was getting a bit concerned. “Do you have something you want me to know?

“I like girls,” Ama said. Her eyes were shining from the sun’s orange rays coming from the living room window as the sky was slowly overtaken by darkness.

Ryan said nothing. Nothing. He leaned forward to hug his daughter tightly. Ama in turn wrapped her arms around him. Nothing needed to be said, for they had a bond that didn’t need such a thing in times like this.

The warm hug from Ryan meant ‘I’m proud of you’.

The returning hug from Ama meant ‘Thank you’.

The tight squeeze from Ryan meant ‘I love you’.

The nod from Ama meant ‘I love you too’.

The silence between the two was comforting to them. In a world where everything was loud and buzzing, the quiet was needed this afternoon.

Ryan kissed Ama on both cheeks and finally on her forehead. She smiled and booped her father on his nose.

Things were alright.

 _Yeah_ , thought Ryan, _things were alright._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys  
> I start classes Tuesday, so I'm gonna slow down updates to once every two weeks if you don't mind.  
> I'm only part time, but I'm also learning how to drive. I hate stress, and driving doesn't help, so I'm gonna be trying to keep my anxiety and stress levels as low as possible.  
> I hope you understand.  
> Thank you for your support, your comments, and your time.


	11. Episode Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided, eh fuck it it's been almost two weeks.  
> Here's an early update.
> 
> I've also updated my other bfu fic [ Haunt My Heart](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14108862/chapters/32508339).   
> For those that don't know what it's about, here:  
> Ryan Bergara enjoys writing about the supernatural. He's lucky he has a job, albeit small, as a writer for a small section of the newspaper under the pseudonym C.C. Tinsley. He writes weekly about strange happenings around the world and answers his readers' responses in his column.
> 
> Shane Madej is Shane Madej. What else is there to say about him? He enjoys laughing at people, especially humans.
> 
> Who is this C.C. Tinsley? Shane wants to know more.

“Dismissed,” their boss said.

People in the meeting room began closing their binders and grabbing their bags. Negotiations with final designs and sponsorships were finally over. The Bellaire Haunted House attraction would finally be able to be built. 

Ryan was proud of himself. The city of LA was willing to give some money to the company to help start the attraction and advertise for it. He didn’t want to admit it, but Ryan was glad that Shane was on board with his team. Shane managed to contact some of the higher ups at Netflix about some special stuff. The man managed to let the company allow special viewings of Netflix’s original documentary film about the Bellaire house. It was amazing how Skyscraper McSteelbeam was able to pull that off.

“Hey,” Brent called out to Ryan from behind as they were exiting the meeting room.

“What?” Ryan asked without stopping to wait for his friend to catch up to him.

“You wanna go out for dinner?” he asked.

There was something about Brent’s words. Like there was something weird behind them. Ryan couldn’t quite figure it out, but hey, he was feeling burnt out recently, so not having to cook sounded really nice at the moment.

“Let me think about it,” responded Ryan said, distracted by checking his emails on his phone.

“Bring Ama with you,” Brent mentioned. “I haven’t seen her so a month. How’s the little bud doin?”

“Hands off of me, Bront,” Ryan said as he gently shoved the man’s arm wrapped around his shoulder.

“Excuse me,” Brent fake gasped. “It’s Brant.”

The two laughed at their inside joke.

“No, but for real. Let’s loosen up and hang out tonight,” said Brent. “It’s been a while.”

Ryan sighed, his shoulders dropping from the exhale. “Yeah, sure. What time?”

To the left of Ryan, Brent was smiling wide. Ryan just rolled his eyes and ignored that grin. Maybe there was something fishing going on, but he couldn’t care less. 

Brent glanced at his watch to check the time. “How ‘bout seven?”

Ryan press the home button to wake his phone. It was currently four in the afternoon. He could pick up Ama right after leaving and freshen up before heading out for dinner. 

“Yeah, sure,” he answered.

“Great!” Brent clapped Ryan’s back and walked into the direction of his own desk. “See ya later, alligator.”

Ryan didn’t bother to respond to Brent. He only lazily waved in his friend’s direction and turned a different way to exit out of the main lobby door.

* * *

 

“Oof!”

Ama had jumped up and clung onto Ryan. Of course, he was able to bring her up into his arms, but due to the little growth spurt his daughter was currently having, it was getting a bit harder for him to lift her up as quick as he did half a year ago.

“How’s your day, Ama?” Ryan asked. He was currently twirling around with Ama held tightly in his arms. 

From afar, Helen was watching with a small smile.

“We were doing a play!” said Ama with pure happiness.

“That’s great, Ama!” Ryan returned. “What was it about?”

The father grabbed a nearby chair and sat down in order to talk to his daughter without having to bend down. They were at equal eye level. Ama was turning side to side; it was something she always did ever since she could walk. It was probably due to a bit of anxiety and not being able to be still for a period of time.

“It was so fun! I got to be the great knight Bergara! I slayed the evil dragon and rescued the pretty princess!”

Ryan laughed at his girl’s enthusiasm. She was really happy to talk about who she liked without fear of judgement. He clicked his tongue and gave finger guns to Ama, and in response, she did the same. They both bursted out in fits of giggles.

“Sounds great. Now let’s go home.” Ryan got up from the semi-small seat he was sitting on. He held his hand out for Ama to take. As the family of two looked up, Helen was walking over to the pair. 

She stopped in front of them. “I see you’re doing great, Mister Bergara.”

“Helen..." Ryan chided. “We’ve known each other for fifteen years. You know you don’t have to be formal when you’re talking to me.”

The woman shook her head. “Fine, Ryan. Well, I hope you two have a great rest of your day.”

“See you next week, Helen,” said Ryan.

“Bye!” Ama said as she jogged to the door.

Helen stood back and waved, watching the two exit and walk to their car.

As soon as Ryan’s car left the parking lot, Helen’s expression turns sad. Her eyes filled with longing.

“Ms. Helen?” a child calls from besides the teacher. 

She quickly snapped back into reality.

“What is it, Ella?” Helen knelt down and asked.

“Can I paint?” Ella asked, holding out some paint brushes and a small palette of basic watercolors.

The teacher nodded, and the little girl gleefully hurried to the art station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol how many dumb nicknames ive given shane in this fic can you spot?
> 
> @ Trashygaymeme:  
> aw thnx a lot! uwu
> 
> @ Kara_lovelymusic:  
> just had my second lesson, and it's not as scary, but it's not fun. i hate driving still ugh. i dont use my phone, but my instructor does. like, boiiii youre supposed to keep your eyes on my driving, not your damn phone adkcjbhekjvs
> 
> @ softwheeze:  
> im all for young children expressing themselves
> 
> @ Rock_Girl19:  
> defooooo! it's 90% what i immediately go to on someone's wiki guilty as charged


	12. Episode Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the wait. I've been so busy with life stuff. I barely had time to myself to just write.  
> But here it is.

Right after Ryan turned into the street, Ama was already complaining about food. 

“Daaaad,” she said. “Foooood.”

Ryan reached across the center console and grabbed his daughter’s hand. He gave it a squeeze.

“I know,” he replied. “That’s why we’re going to see Brent for dinner.”

Ama suddenly shot up from her slouching position. “Yes, yes, yes!”

Ryan laughed at her enthusiasm. He moved his hand up and brushed Ama’s messy bangs away from her eyes. She was bouncing up and down in her seat.

“Hold your petals, Ama,” he jokingly chided her. “We’re going home to drop our stuff down first.”

“-want pasta! I want ice cream! I want to dri-” Ama listed out.

Ryan didn’t have the heart to stop his daughters actions. He continued to look forward and shook his head in adoration.

* * *

 

“Shane!” Ama called out to the tall man. She immediately sprinted to the other side of the restaurant when she spotted Shane.

The guy bent down and had his arms out to intercept Ama’s hug. She came in crashing into Shane’s chest and wrapped her arms around him. He in turn did the same.

“Warm...” Ama mumbled into Shane’s chest. 

“Hello, little one,” Shane greeted. He gently rubbed her back.

Ryan stood still in shock. He quickly snapped out of it and sent a hard glare at his friend. He stalked towards Brent and pulled him aside to give him a few words.

“The fuck were you thinking?” Ryan said to Brent in a hush volume.

“Shane’s my friend, Ryan,” Brent responded.

Ryan threw his hands up in question.

“Stop being such a drama queen,” his friend responded.

“Daaad,” Ama called out from their table, “Sit down so we can order fooood!”

Brent smiled and tugged Ryan towards their seats.

Ryan was about to sit next to his daughter until Brent interfered.

“Ama, come sit with me,” Brent said. “I haven’t seen you in so long. Gosh, I missed you”

Ama giggled and hugged him when he sat down.

Ryan glared once again at his friend.

“Where’s Shane?” he asked.

“Bathroom,” answered Ama. “You should wash your hands too before you eat, Dad.”

Well, that was true. Ryan had always told Ama to do what was right. It would be wrong for him to be a hypocrite right now, so he got up and excused himself.

He’ll let Brent have this one, since his girl really haven’t seen him in almost a month. It was only fair for him to give them some time to catch up with each other.

* * *

 

Shane was in the middle of washing his hands when Ryan walked into the restroom.

Oddly, there wasn’t anyone else in there except the two men. Bamboo Stilts didn’t notice Ryan when he walked it. From what Ryan saw, Shane was a bit deep in thought. He wondered what the man was thinking.

Ryan walked up to the sink and placed his hand under the automatic soap dispenser. That was when Shane snapped out of his thoughts and realized that there was another person in the restroom. 

“Oh, Ryan. Didn’t notice you comin’ in,” said Shane.

“Nah, it’s cool,” Ryan dismissed as he rinsed his hands under the warm water.

Shane shook his hands a few times to get rid of some of the water on his hands and walked towards the hand dryer. Ryan proceeded to do the same, taking the second dryer. For about fifteen long and loud seconds, nothing was said. Ryan then walked up to the mirror to fix hair a bit. The wind was a lot on the short walk from the parking lot to the restaurant. He combed his hands through his hair to try and get it back to a decent look. It was really awkward because Shane was staring at him looking at the mirror. Ryan tried hard not meet the man’s eyes.

In the end, it was Shane that broke the silence.

“Ryan?”

Ryan quickly turned his head to the right to look at the man. “Huh?”

“Do you... Do you hate me?” Shane asked quietly.

“What!? No!” Ryan said. “What makes you think that?”

Shane looked down at the ground and tapped the front tip of his shoes on the polished tile floor.

“Well, you’re always made when I’m around you...” he said.

“Uh...”

“Did I do something to make you hate me?” Shane looked up to meet Ryan’s eyes and asked.

“I don’t- I don’t know what you mean,” Ryan said. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

The taller man’s eyes widened. “Oh! That’s nice...?”

“Uh, yeah,” Ryan awkwardly said. He really didn’t know how to get out of this situation. “I’m just gonna, uh, go outside to, uh, my car to get something I accidentally left inside.”

Ryan quickly dash out the restroom and left Shane even more confused than he was a few minutes ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ Kara_lovelymusic:
> 
> im still soooo bad a driving. theres no helping me. like, im such an anxious driver. im too scared to go any faster.


	13. Episode Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the update being so short and late.  
> I've been working and all the other stuff

“Hey, Ryan! Where you goin’? Brent called out to the man dashing out of the restroom and out of the restaurant.

Ama didn’t bother to look up as she was too enamored by Brent’s phone as she was going through all the videos of Shane’s cat.

* * *

 

Ryan jogged to his car, parked somewhere to the right side of the restaurant on the road. He unlocked his car and go in. Once settled, Ryan started to take in deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart. He rested his head against the wheel.

“What the fuck was that?” he groaned.

He made this more weird between Shane and him. But it wasn’t like they were getting along in the first place. Even so, now he has given the man the impression that he didn't know how to talk to people like a normal person.

Ryan straightened himself and leaned back on the seat. He shut his eyes and focused on breathing.

* * *

 

“Sorry, guys,” Ryan apologized as he sat himself down at the booth.

“Is something wrong, Dad?” Ama asked with a concerned look. She had placed down Shane’s phone and focused her attention at her father.

“I’m okay, Ama,” he reassured her. “Let’s dig in. What do we have here?”

When Ryan sat down, he had noticed that everyone’s orders already came in. In front of Ama was a bowl of beef stew and a plate of chicken over rice and a side of roast potatoes. Placed in front of himself was carbonara pasta. It was the doing of Brent. Of course he friend knew what he enjoyed eating.

Brent pointed at his plate. “Some steak with wine sauce on top of rice”

“Ooh!” Shane reached over and was about to stab his fork into a piece of steak until Brent caught him and tapped his hand away.

“Uh, no ya don’t, Shane,” Brent said. “My food. You have your own plate.”

Shane pouted in response of the rejection but still hadn’t moved his arm back. Ryan stared down at how close the guy was to him. Shane was lean cross right to get to Brent’s plate as he was diagonally seated from him. It was quite an awkward position, and Ryan could feel Shane’s warmth. 

_ I wonder if he’s normally that warm... _ Ryan thought to himself as he kept staring at Shane who was still playfully bickering with Brent about sharing food. He didn’t even notice Shane’s words because too entranced.

“-d share with me, right?”

Ryan snapped back into the moment. “Huh? Sorry, what did you say??”

“You’d share a bit of your food with me, right, Ryan?” Shane asked.

“Uhh, sure? I guess?” he said, a bit confused. He glanced at Ama, and she met his eyes and gave a thumbs up.

“Hey,” Brent cut in, “Shane’s not even paying for this dinner.”

Said man shrugged his shoulders with his hands up. “Sharing is caring.”

Both Ryan and Brent rolled their eyes. 

“Let’s eat,” Ama chimed in.

* * *

 

“Ah... That was good,” said Shane, rubbing his belly.

Brent jabbed him in the side. “It's good because you didn't have to pay. You owe me next time.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”

Ryan tuned their words out, focusing on going through he emails. Well, he was intending to until hands gently tugged him aside.

“Sorry to spring it on ya all last second,” said Brent. Ryan eyed him suspiciously.

“I don’t like this. What do you want?” Ryan asked, arms crossed.

“I drove Shane here, but I reeeally can’t do it again. I have to rush back home, so I don’t have the time to go to his apartment and back to mine.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill you,” Ryan seethed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ Kara_lovelymusic:  
> ajekhfber nah i cant even take the test yet because im not 21. i dont have the damn time to spent on the online course, so im gonna wait it out til i turn 21 which is in a two months.  
> but yeah, brent is the wingman in this fic
> 
> @ Rybergara:  
> owiuncejkwc
> 
> @ RosemarySensei:  
> thank you~


	14. Episode Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey yall  
> early update kinda  
> i know it's short plz bear with me because im trying to sort out my life  
> good news, i might be able to work at vans  
> i really hope they hire me orz  
> im a broke college student

“Thanks, Ryan,” Shane said with a straight face. Something about that face irked Ryan.

“No problem,” responded Ryan. “Where do you live?”

“Ah, no.” the taller man said. “I actually have to go to the office and finish a bit of my work. Script stuff.”

“Wait. What?” Ryan looked at his watch to check the time. “You’re working at 10 at night?”

“Yeah. Otherwise I don’t have enough time after a meeting with the higher-ups in charge of the studio.”

“Jesus. Get it the car already.”

* * *

 

“Thanks, Ryan,” Shane thanked the man again. “Real life saver.”

Lanky Beanstalks McSkyscraper solluted Ryan and walked towards the door of the office building.

“Byeeee” said Ama while waving bye.

* * *

 

“So, Ama,” Ryan called his daughter to attention, “What did Shane talk to you about when I was gone for a bit?”

“I’ll take out my dirty cloths as soon as I’m done with this course,” she answered her father but not really paying attention to him as she was currently very focused on Mario Kart.

Ryan shook his head and decided to let it go for the night. He’ll have to ask her in the morning.

“Lights out at nine,” he reminded Ama. “Better she you brushing your teeth at fifty-five.”

“Mhm,” Ama responded.

Ryan leaned down to kiss his daughter’s forehead.

“Daaaad!” she whined. “I’m trying to drive here! You’re not helping!”

Ryan just ruffled her hair just to mess with her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ Rybergara:  
> thank you so much for your continuous support on this fic  
> youre the best


	15. Episode Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finally! a chapter that is 1k<  
> the semester is almost over so hopefully i can bang out more chapters more frequently.  
> thank you all for being so patient with me and continuing to support me and this fic
> 
> okay so  
> im gonna be resuming updates on my other fic Haunt My Heart  
> If you guys haven't read, plz do. i love writing that fic because i get to do research on wack things. i just havent been able to write more for it because i was writing this fic

“Amarylliiiiiis, you’re gonna be late!” Ryan called from the bottom of the stairs.

“Boo!” shouted Ama from behind Ryan.

“Ah, no! A ghost!” Ryan fakingly gasped with a hand to his heart, playing along with his daughter. 

Ama giggled.

“Alright, into the car we go or else we’ll be late for real.” Ryan said, opening the side door to the garage.

* * *

 

He kissed Ama three times, one cheek, two, and finally, the forehead. “I love you, flower petal. See ya.”

Ama gave her father one last hug before watching him turn around and walk back to his car and drive off to work. She waited until the car is all but a distant blur. She went inside and saw her friends waving at her.

* * *

 

“Where is he?” Ryan muttered to himself. He glanced at the clock hanging above the TV in the waiting room. It was currently eleven thirty, almost forty-five minutes past the scheduled time for the follow-up meeting.

His phone starting ringing. He picked it up and looked at who was calling him. It was Brent.

“Yeah?” Ryan said.

“I need you to do me a favor,” said Brent in a worried voice.

Ryan sat up in the chair, now attentive. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m caught up in traffic right now, so I need you to check up on Shane,” his friend said.

“Wha-? No,” he objected. “He’s a grown ass man, and you can just call him, Brent.”

“No, no. You don’t get it, Ryan. Shane has a tendency to overwork himself. I’d drive by the office but y’know...”

The office? What was Shane doing there? Didn’t he go back to his apartment after he finished his work?

“Ugh.... Fine,” Ryan resigned. “You owe me one.”

* * *

“Shane?” he called out.

He was currently standing in front of the door, and he wasn’t all that sure what to do. The door was locked, and the more he shouted, the more attention he attracted. Ryan was going to knock hard on the door when he heard a thump coming from the inside the office.

“Shane! Are you alright?” he shouted. “Sha-”

“Excuse me, sir?” asked an elderly lady from behind him. He had almost jumped out of his skin. He didn’t expect anyone to walk up to him since it was midday, and almost everyone in the area was probably at work.

Ryan turned around to face the lady. “Yes?”

“I didn’t mean to surprise you, boy,” said the elder. “I heard you calling for Shaney-boy.”

“Oh, um...” Ryan didn’t know how to react. He didn’t even know who this lady was, but it seemed like she knew Shane. “I’m Shane’s co-worker. I’m here to check on him?”

Why did he phrase it like a question? It made him a suspicious person. He wanted to facepalm.

The elder lady stepped back and eyed Ryan for a moment.

“Are you the Ryan-boy my Shaney-boy has been talking about?” she finally said.

“Shane talks about me to you?” Ryan asked. 

Hold up. That was really weird, and even if Shane really spoke about him, it would most likely be full of trash talking.

“Uh, yeah. I’m Ryan,” he introduced himself.

Surprising, the old lady gave a small smile and handed him a key presumably the one to the office door.

“Thank you for coming all the way here to check on my boy,” she said, placing the key into his palm.

“Uh, no problem. I actually need him to be in a meeting right now, and he’s really late,” confessed Ryan.

The lady said no more and slowly walked back to wherever she came from. He shook himself out of his shock and unlocked the door.

The first thing he noticed was the place was messy but still neat. Most of the clutter was on a long table in the middle of the place.  It was an apartment that was repurposed as a home office. He managed to worm his way through all the stacks of books and stuff on the floor. He was trying to find Shane.

“Shane?”

There was a groan coming from nearby. 

“Shane?” Ryan called out again.

Finally, when he looked down, right against the wall, he found who he was looking for.

“Oh, god. Shane, are you okay?” 

Ryan lift the bamboo stick man up and placed him in a better position. He rested the back of his hand on Shane’s forehead. 

“Good. You’re not running a fever,” he said.

“Hmmm...” Shane hummed. “Fruity...”

“Let’s get you into the shower to clean you up. You look like a hot mess,” Ryan said. He took off Shane’s glasses and placed them on the desk next to them. He gently brushed away the man’s bangs from his face. Shane looked really tired, and the dark bags underneath his eyes was evidence. His hair was currently sticking out at various angles and oily. 

Ryan tucked his hands under Shane’s and tried standing the guy up. “Hold on. Make sure you’re leaning a bit on the wall, or you’re gonna fall.”

Shane’s head lolled around instead of nodding.

They slowly made their way to the bathroom.

* * *

 

“Can you wash yourself without me?” Ryan asked.

Shane blinked a few times. The guy was starting to look more awake and alive compared to five minutes ago. Ryan has taken the liberty to take a towel and wipe Shane’s face a bit. So far, the man didn’t reply, just continued to stare at Ryan. That was where he decided that this man was helpless.

“Okay, Shane. I need you to raise both your arms up,” he told him.

Shane responded by holding his arms out in front of him like a mummy. Ryan was about to smack the guy with the still wet towel. He corrected his position and tugged Shane’s shirt off.

“Now, pants,” Ryan said.

Shane started to pull his sweatpants down, and his underwear slipped down with it,

“Wait, wait,wait!” Ryan exclaimed. “Not while I’m still here looking at you!”

He quickly grabbed Shane’s hands from pulling his pants down any further and dashed out the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Ryan braced his back against the wall outside the bathroom and slid down into a sitting position. He covered his face with his hands. He was able to feel warmth coming from his face.

_ Holy fuck! I almost saw Shane’s.... _

Ryan stopped his thoughts before they were completed. He did not want to think about Shane’s-

“Uuuuuugh!” he groaned loudly. What kind of day was this!? He didn’t not sign up to be Empire State Building’s caretaker. Brent was going to pay.

Ryan leaned his head back too quickly and accidentally banged the back of his head on the hard wall.

“Fuck!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ musicalpidgeon :  
> thank you~~  
> @ Rybergara:  
> im glad you enjoy this fic. its very fun to write.
> 
> @ mynekoheart:  
> thank you too
> 
> @ FreshTrashOfSmellAir:  
> oh pleaseeee thank you~~~~~~


	16. Episode Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, yes  
> But I need to rethink some things for this fic. Please be patient if the story isn't going anywhere.

“Howdy, y’all,” Shane greeted as he walked into the meeting about an hour and a half late.

“Hey,” everyone greeted in return.

Ryan was appalled by his coworkers’ reactions. What the fuck was that? It was like they didn’t even notice that Shane came in late. For fuck’s sake, Eric had one arm wrapped around his shoulder like the two have always been buddy-buddy with each other. It irked Ryan, and he didn’t know why. Of course people would be attracted to that guy. After all, Shane _did_ look kinda decent. He tended to dress pretty nice. The way those maroon colored jeans hugged his long legs perfectly. From what Ryan saw earlier, Shane was an average guy, his body not toned with a six pack but still toned...

“Ahem.” C.C. cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. That snapped Ryan out of his thoughts.

“On to the meeting...” said C.C. Boss man gestured to Brent.

“Ah, oh yeah,” Brent jumped in his seat. He wasn’t expected to be called on. “So Shane and I have been thinking about some ideas on the collab with the Hot Dog Saga.”

“I know we’ve really only spoken about the possibilities of what the design of the attraction might be,” Shane spoke up. “I would like to suggest that have a group of people from the team to go to that location and check out the place.”

A few people had a reaction reaction probably because no one wanted to actually come into contact with the dead. This included Ryan.

He turned to his boss to see what he reaction to Shane’s words was.

“Alright,” agreed C.C. “I will leave Shane and Ryan in charge of the trip there. You can take whoever you need as long as it isn’t affecting their other work priorities.”

Ryan glared at Brent who in turn shrugged and pointed at Shane who in turn just gave a smile at Ryan. Oh, they were gonna get it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ musicalpidgeon:  
> thank you! youre so sweet
> 
> @ Rybergara:  
> OOWOO


	17. Episode Seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Waddup! You're probably a new reader.   
> Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I've been struggling a lot with my classes.  
> This is short because I completely forgot what is going on in this fic, so I'm slowly getting back into the flow of writing. Summer break is in 3 weeks for me, so maybe I can churn out more chapters.

“I’m gonna fucking kill you both,” seethed Ryan as he sat in the shotgun next to Shane who was currently playing songs from the cursed Hot Dog Saga.

“Chill, Ryan,” Brent laughed. “It’s for work.”

* * *

 

“Here we are,” announced Ryan. “Bellaire House.”

Shane whistled. “Damn.”

“Uh, Shane?” Brent chimed in. “Why did you make us come here when it’s nearly dark?”

“God, this place looks like there’s ghosts,” said Ryan.

“Ehhh...” Shane shrugged.

Ryan turned to face Shane with a look. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”   
“Oooh, look at this table...” marveled Shane, completely ignoring what Ryan asked. 

Shane pulled a squeaky chair out and plopped himself onto it. He titled it back, letting it teeter back a forth. Ryan stood there, squinting at him as the other man browsed through his phone. 

Really? It was as if this kind of thing was normal for Shane. Like it was totally a normal thing to do, sitting in a haunted house as if it the place was his own. Ryan rolled his eyes and panned the flashlight across the dining room. 

No, he was paranoid. It’s just that ghosts miiiight exist, and there’s no way he’d fuck with that. 

“What are you doing, Shane?” Ryan asked. Shane’s face was only illuminated by his bright phone screen. From Ryan’s angle, it looked like he has the face of a demon. If he squinted hard enough, perhaps he could see horns protruding from his head.

“I’m looking through Wiki How on how to hold seances,” Shane answered nonchalantly. “Hey, Brent. Come grab a seat here will ya?”

Brent waved Ryan over. “Come on. Don’t chicken out.”

“After this, I’m so quitting this job,” Ryan mumbled under his breath as he sat down. Shane gave a little laugh at Ryan’s words.

At least someone’s having fun here.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm malecvows on tumblr  
> come say hi
> 
> I reply to comments/questions in the next update.


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